Damn! Damn! Chapter 11

“They say it’s so rare that it’s practically called a medicinal herb. Of course, because it’s so precious, it’s not widely circulated yet, so only a few junkies know about it. Even the people who do know are keeping it quiet like me. Besides, it doesn’t contain any harmful ingredients, so it won’t ruin your health.”

A precious drug that could conceal one’s secondary gender, and unlike the harsh drugs they previously knew about, was completely harmless to the body.

Despite the lengthy explanation, from a Beta’s perspective, that was the only way to define it. Because of the unbridgeable distance created by secondary genders, there was an inevitable limit to how much he could relate.

Achim nodded noncommitally.

“Honey, why do you think I brought this up?”

“…”

“You know that medicine you take.”

“Medicine?”

Achim’s eyes widened as he asked, and a beat later, the brown glass bottle flashed through his mind, causing an “Ah” to escape his lips. He realized it was the voice-modulating drug that Linus had handed him a while ago.

Linus nodded as if confirming he was correct.

“I thought it sounded familiar, and it turns out Henet is in that drug too. That’s why as soon as I heard the news about that Omega, I wanted to tell you. You were worried about potential side effects anyway, right? Now it’s proven that it doesn’t have bad ingredients. In conclusion, things worked out great.”

Linus looked quite proud of himself, raising his eyebrows high with a smug expression. The man who had been obsessed with Achim’s ass was gone, replaced by someone wearing the mask of a professional.

A drug that conceals pheromones. However, it was a drug that would have absolutely no effect on him anyway, since he was a Beta.

Feeling lighter than before, Achim smiled back at Linus as if praising him.

It was his first day off since entering the mansion.

The place where he met Linus was a bar located just inside the outskirts of a small city, a short distance away from the mansion.

Leaving their brief meeting behind and parting ways with Linus, Achim suddenly missed the days when there was no distinction between working days and days off, prompting him to quickly call the 500,000 euros to mind.

— Leave it at that.

— Leave what?

— That kid who’s supposed to be your roommate.

Before leaving the bar, Linus had said, shrugging his thick shoulders.

— You don’t even know when you’ll be leaving the mansion, so if you give him your affection, it’ll only make things harder for the kid.

When did I ever give him my affection? As if reading Achim’s thoughts just as he was about to say that, Linus shook his head.

— You have too much affection, Achim.

— …

— You might not realize it yourself, Achim… Well, I guess that’s why I was able to get close to you too.

Achim shifted his gaze away from Linus. He hadn’t particularly tried to give anyone his affection, but was it really something to be that serious about? Of course, he felt a sense of camaraderie due to their shared background of growing up in an institution, but…

— I heard you even earned Michael Bernhard’s resentment while trying to help that kid. If you think about it, you’re not entirely without responsibility, honey.

— …

— You should be acting like a ghost to avoid notice, but instead, it’s no different from putting on a whole performance right in front of that man.

You know that, right? Linus criticized him coldly.

Achim couldn’t find a proper argument to counter him. Unable to resist a momentary impulse, he had personally kicked away the fruit of a week’s worth of hard work, and to top it off, he had ended up earning Michael’s resentment. He had absolutely no excuse.

In the end, Achim conceded to Linus’s words. Even though Linus usually acted optimistic and thoughtless, Achim knew that he was more thorough than anyone else when it came to work.

When Achim raised both palms in a gesture of surrender, Linus chuckled.

— Still, thanks to you, I learned something interesting today before leaving.

When Achim tilted his head as if he had already forgotten, Linus threw an arm around Achim’s shoulder.

— I’m talking about Michael Bernhard. Who would have thought his true colors would be so different? I was completely fooled.

— Same here.

— It’s really scoop-material, honey. It breaks my heart that I can’t leak it because of the 500,000 euros. It’s a total pie in the sky.

As if truly full of regret, Linus groaned as they walked out of the bar.

“…”

Achim, who had initially questioned Linus’s advice not to give any more affection, now thought that Linus might have a point.

He hadn’t thought much about it until now. The flaw was that he hadn’t thought deeply because his actions weren’t calculated.

Just as Linus said, he didn’t know when he would carry out the mission and leave the mansion, so it seemed there would be no good in getting close. Of course, that went for Dora even more than for himself.

Thinking that he should exercise self-restraint from now on, Achim stopped by a public restroom before taking a taxi. When a woman walked out of the stall Achim was about to enter, a man who was washing his hands after doing his business gasped and peered into the mirror at the stall Achim had just stepped out of.

Coming back outside, Achim adjusted his clothes and lightly patted his flat chest.

Since he was already disliked anyway, he decided not to wear the bra anymore. If the man’s eyes had been fixed on his chest from the very beginning, he would find it even more ridiculous if a chest that wasn’t there suddenly appeared overnight.

— Is it because you’re not his type after all?

It was while he was waiting for a taxi. Suddenly, what Linus had said at the bar came to mind.

— Even that ill-tempered Martina had a pretty face, right, honey?

Having been slapped on the cheek, he didn’t really want to agree, but Martina was definitely an outstanding beauty. If only her personality had been good, Achim might have been interested too.

When a hesitant Achim nodded reluctantly, Linus nodded as if he understood.

— Now I get it.

— Get what?

— That man.

Linus said with a rather serious face.

— He’s a total sucker for looks, isn’t he?

— …

Was the problem his face, not his chest? For a moment, Achim looked as if he had been struck on the back of his head.

— Back during the practical interview, Achim. What was the weight for each category?

The interview Q&A quick-wittedness, attitude, and physical fitness sections accounted for 30%, 30%, and 40% respectively.

When Achim recalled his memory and spoke, Linus added another question.

— Among those, what was your score for attitude?

— …Was it 60 points?

It was a memory that had already grown faint, but after spitting out the words, Achim remembered exactly. The time he had barely avoided a failing score.

As soon as Achim spoke, Linus let out a wheezing laugh as if he were about to pass out. His pride wounded, Achim glared at him.

— Still, the rest were all high scores. I got a perfect score on physical fitness, you know?

— Well, that’s because you’re a man, Achim.

Achim let out an audible groan. Since he was the only male among the competitors, surpassing standards set for women was far too easy for Achim, who was a former mercenary.

Anyway, that was how he was able to get a perfect score in the physical fitness section, which had the largest weight, and his interview Q&A quick-wittedness was also close to a perfect score thanks to his thorough preparation.

The problem was the attitude section.

It was fortunate that his scores in physical fitness and quick-wittedness were overwhelmingly higher than the others; otherwise, he might have been eliminated at the final stage because of his attitude score, which was practically cut in half.

As Achim recalled that time and clicked his tongue, Linus called out to him.

— Hey, Achim.

— Yeah?

— Hmm, it looks like that was actually the appearance score.

— …What?

At the words Linus managed to spit out while holding back his laughter, Achim now looked as if his crown had been struck with an axe.

He had wondered what on earth they had looked at to grade him since he hadn’t particularly done anything like in the other two sections…

— Ha… Fuck.

When Achim pressed his hand to his forehead and swore, Linus threw his head back and laughed heartily.

‘Attitude’ was just a grandiose expression; in the end, they had ranked their appearances and given scores accordingly.

Linus, who had laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes, wiped them away and said,

— Don’t be so discouraged, honey. It just means you’re that ‘handsome,’ so there’s no need to be down.

Looking at Achim who was glaring at him, Linus burst into another fit of laughter before speaking.

— Think about the maids besides you. Aside from Martina, aren’t they all exceptionally beautiful?

— …

— Achim, no matter how handsome you are, if you’re sandwiched between beautiful women, it’s only natural that you’ll fall behind.

Come to think of it, every single one of the maids in the mansion was outstandingly beautiful. Thinking about it that way, Michael’s attitude became somewhat understandable. It felt disgusting, but Achim felt as though a long-standing indigestion had finally cleared.

“Son of a bitch.”

As Achim cursed while getting into the taxi that had just pulled up, the taxi driver flinched and looked into the rearview mirror.